


Ashes of Love

by Mellowyellowdiamonds



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Dramatic and ridiculously fluffy, F/M, Inspired by a prompt and artwork from Nelly @felicitymqueen on twitter, Meet cute on steriods, Modern Hades/Persephone, Olicity Summer Sizzle, Olicity meet cute with everything in between and afterwards
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-07-30 10:09:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20095561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mellowyellowdiamonds/pseuds/Mellowyellowdiamonds
Summary: One encounter with Felicity Smoak is all it takes for Oliver Queen to fall head over heels. Despite knowing that they come from different worlds and fearing that he will destroy her with his darkness, Oliver finds himself drawn to Felicity over and over again, unable to give her up.





	Ashes of Love

**Author's Note:**

> Hallooo
> 
> I was clicking around on Twitter and stumble across this amazing artwork and prompt by Nelly@felicitymqueen
> 
> It was RIGHT up my alley and I could not resist turning it into a fic.
> 
> This is what I deem a meet cute on steroids. I had so much to say and wanted to give you a full story but had no time to write a work that involves chapters so I have crammed everything concisely into one story. 
> 
> Here is the artwork that inspired this story. Please take a look at it as it will give you a feel for the story. I hope I've done it justice!
> 
> https://twitter.com/felicitymqueen/status/1157019659922747393?s=20
> 
> Warnings/Disclaimers: This fic has a very dramatic, somewhat drama llama tone to it. I really let my Chinese series loving soul fly with this one so if you are not into that kind of story this is not the fic for you. I was REALLY feeling the art and just unleashed my inner drama llama while writing this fic.
> 
> That said it does end with one of my usual Happily Ever Afters.

_**Prompt**_

_ **Modern Hades/Persephone - He's the big mob boss who has tattoos and wears leather jackets and kills people for a living and she is this beautiful and nice girl who always had flowers in her hair and wears a lot of flowy dresses. And he’s so in love with her** _

**Spring**

Oliver didn’t know what twist of fate sent him into her office that day. They’d finally obtained the laptop they so badly wanted, the only catch being that after Rene was done with it, it was riddled with bullets.

Having already botched up one task, Oliver simply had no faith in sending his loud mouthed minion to complete the next step (get the information off the laptop), which led to him subscribing to the old adage of _Want something done properly, do it yourself_.

One single harmless action. That was all it took to change the course of his life. And he’d done and experienced so many things in this life. After the death of his father he’d unwittingly been thrust into the family business. It was a huge learning curve that involved him being kidnapped and tortured but he’d survived all that and emerged a completely different person. Gone was the debauched but well meaning, clueless mob prince. In his place was a hardened leader. One equipped with all the skills to continue the family legacy. 

Oliver had done his fair share of killing, torture and espionage over the course of the last five years. Who would have thought that the single act of walking into a charmingly decorated office space was the one action that would be his complete and utter undoing. 

The various pot plants and blooms littered all over her office should have clued him in. But aside of neatly sidestepping some potted cactuses Oliver did not give the space much thought. He was too focused on the information he needed from the laptop. The information that would stop Merlyn. 

He strides in with purpose. He had a script that he planned to stick to. It wasn’t until he saw her golden head bent down at her desk, tapping away quickly at her keyboard, completely unaware of his presence that everything changed.

For a start she wasn’t like anything he’d imagined her to be. His research had led him to believe he was going to run into a bookish, nerdy type of woman, one who had the technical skills to solve all his problems.

He was in no way prepared for the golden curly hair, smoothy creamy shoulders that lay bare because the pink straps of her dress that should be sitting on them, had fallen down on both sides. 

His breath hitches as he catches a glimpse of the perfect, milky smooth skin on display before him. 

“Felicity Smoak? Hi I’m Oliver Queen.” 

She looks up from her work, blinking at him in surprise and looking somewhat flustered. 

“Mr. Queen. Wow. To what do I owe this visit?”

Her first few words are harmless enough as she looks up at him, curiosity written all over her face. 

And then a few seconds later she ambushes with a full arsenal of charm that he was in no way ready for.

“Have I been bad? You don’t think I’ve failed this city do you? Because if you’re visiting me personally it must be bad. I assure you I’ve been a good girl. The only place I’m bad is in bed I promise.”

She winces at this last comment and her face turns a delightful shade of crimson, making her eyes look even bluer than when he’d first noticed them.

“I don’t mean bad in bed as in actually bad in bed. I mean I can be a very bad girl in bed. Which makes me pretty good in bed.”

She attempts to wink at him but only succeeds in what looks like an adorable scrunched up blink that quickly morphs into a sheepish expression.

“What I meant is, would you like to purchase some software Mr. Queen? Because that is what my business specializes in, assuming there is no mistaken identity here and I assure you I have not failed this city.”

It was a complete and utter assault on emotions he did know he had and Oliver is overwhelmed by the urge to smile at her. He swallows the smile and tries desperately to push the urge away resulting in what probably looked like a fierce grimace because the next thing he knows she’s right up at him, giving him placating air pats around the chest, her fingers fluttering close to his body but never quite touching. Did this girl possess zero self-preservation instincts? 

“You look a little stressed. Anything I can do to relieve that?” she beams at him, making circular motions with her hand as if she were rubbing his chest despite there being no contact. How he desperately wished there was contact. Horrified by his run away thoughts, Oliver summons his reserves to raise a disapproving eyebrow at her. 

“By selling you software. Not other…services,” she quickly corrects herself, her face bright crimson once more.

“I need information from this laptop,” he says quickly, putting them both out of their misery. He wasn’t sure what was happening. She was an up and coming CEO of a hugely successful start up business and he was the Starling’s feared mob boss. Yet there they were, fumbling and going around in circles with each other.

Felicity takes the laptop from him, clearly delighted by the prospect of a new challenge. She pauses when she spots a bullet hole and gives him a _look_.

“I spilt a latte on this laptop,” he offers with a straight face.

“Really? Because these look like bullet holes.” 

“My coffee shop is in a bad neighbourhood,” Oliver stands by his story shamelessly. 

Felicity doesn’t respond, merely sizes him up with a gaze that leaves him no doubt that she knows exactly who he is and what he is but will not be calling him out about it today. And just like that, the babbling, flustered girl previously standing before him is gone. In her place stood a self assured woman who was making a conscious choice to not make his life difficult. 

“I’ll see what I can do.”

She smiles at him, a kind, warm smile that completely lights up the room. Oliver nods back, unable to take his eyes off her. He can see why the plants were thriving in this office space, despite being indoors. Who would not thrive under the same air as Felicity Smoak? 

“So, care to water my plants for me while I work on this lap top?” she grins at him.

Again this wasn’t what he had expected and thus Oliver finds himself nodding stupidly at her.

***

Oliver continues to pursue her for favours after that day. He knows he shouldn’t and tries hard to stay away only to find himself being pulled into her offices over and over again with a bevy of cover stories each one more ridiculous than the previous.

Felicity knew who he was, what he was. That much he was sure of. Yet she continued to act as if she bought his stories, always greeting him with a warm smile, a long-winded babble and a few inappropriate jokes. They were the highlights of his week.

Oliver begins to smile and doesn’t attempt to fight it anymore. There was no fighting her, that much he knew. There was no resisting Felicity with her analytical mind, earnest heart and humorous quirks. Everything about her called out to him, beckoned him, reeled him in day after day. And yet despite the constant yearning he felt for her, the intense need to see her and watch her, there was a very definite line drawn where Oliver was concerned.

He was allowed to look and engage but not touch. He could fantasize all he wanted about how those bright pink lips would feel against his, how her soft her gold spun hair would brush his chest as he held her close in the morning, how it would feel to have her in his arms and pull down the straps of her endless supply of dresses and have them pool at her feet on the floor. He could live in that imaginary world where all this happened and let his mind wander as far as his imagination would take him as long as he remained grounded firmly in reality. Felicity Smoak was out of his reach.

**Summer**

“Oliver, what happened? Oliver!”

Felicity casts her tablet onto the table roughly and sprints over to his side as fast as she could. The way he staggered in, his heavy breathing, the pale greenish tinge on his skin. It suddenly felt like the room was closing in on her. She was so used to seeing him saunter in with his ridiculous cover stories, grimaces that eventually broke into smiles and his awkward yet persistent lingering at her offices. 

His reputation as a hardened killer, the alleged most ruthless mob boss to run Starling never reconciled with the slightly growly, yet ever so respectful and gentle man that seemingly haunted her offices.

But he was here now and he wasn’t himself. Despite wanting to panic and fall apart Felicity braces herself and wills the sick feeling in her stomach away. This was not what Oliver needed. Oliver needed a competent soul, someone who he could trust to bring him through this. There had to be a reason he went to her instead of his people or a hospital. 

“I have better supplies at home. I’m going to load you into my car and I will attempt to fix you up at home.” 

She takes a deep breath and tries to muster up the most reassuring smile she can for his sake. 

He doesn’t say anything; his eyes flutter as he sways a bit more, threatening to collapse onto her.

“I just need you to make it to the car for me ok Oliver. Just to the car ok.”

Somehow he finds the strength to nod at her as he semi collapses into her arms.

*** 

“You’re awake,” Felicity smiles at him, a soft, luminous smile that is full of relief and joy. She dabs his forehead with a warm towel and it’s then that he notices her hand is resting on his chest, absentmindedly stroking his scar.

“I was so worried. I love science and I have been known to dabble in all fields but medical science is really not my forte so the entire time I was living under the constant fear of causing your death. You don’t know how many times I wanted to burst into tears and call 911 but we both know you wouldn’t want that so I plodded along. Thank god you’re alive. You were poisoned.” 

She tells him all this in one breath, her hands fluttering around his body, comforting and stroking him. Oliver knows he should focus on appreciating the fact that he’s just survived this ordeal and come out of it alive but somehow all he can focus on is Felicity’s touch. 

He glances around the room. He’s lying in bed with a purple doona covered in chubby panda prints. As he swivels his head to look around, Oliver notices a vase filled with a bunch of red roses. A smile forms on his face despite the situation he’s in. So Felicity saved him and managed to put flowers by his bedside. This girl was…something beyond him altogether.

“I had some downtime while I waited for you to wake up so to stop myself from panicking I tried to make things nice for you,” she explains, reading his thoughts.

“You were poisoned. You were shot by an arrow, I found it outside my office. Don’t worry I removed it and cleaned it up.”

“Malcolm Merlyn,” he offers by way of explanation.

“I know,” she says gently. “After being your personal private research assistant all these months I put all of it together.” 

“Lie down.” She hovers over him and gently urges him to lie down on the bed. 

Oliver obeys, especially since her hands are on him again, her touch soothing him and practically lulling him into a blissful trance. 

“I’m going to get you some food. It’s nothing fancy but I did buy it so you won’t have to suffer through my cooking.”

She stands up and Oliver almost whines at the loss of contact. Instead he manages to keep it together and grabs her hand. 

“Don’t go,” he whispers, his voice raw with need. He didn’t even know why he’s doing this. He had no business pursuing her all these months, getting close to her, worming his way into her existence.

Yes he had desperately needed help with the laptop but that should have been a one and done thing. He had no right to insert himself into her life like this. Now he’d effectively forced her to save him and lying here in her bed he couldn’t bear the thought of her walking away from him, not even for one minute. 

“You need to eat Oliver. You’ve been very sick. I’m confident you’ll be ok but you need to keep your strength up.” 

He has no response to this exceedingly rational argument from Felicity. Instead he looks at her with pleading eyes and refuses to let her hand go. 

“Oliver,” she sighs moving back closer to him. Her other hand reaches out to caress his face as she speaks gently, in a coaxing tone. He closes his eyes and leans into her touch. 

“I’ll be back in three minutes ok? Please?” 

“And then you’ll stay?” 

“And then I’ll stay.” 

He knows he’s making demands he’s not entitled to but Felicity isn’t exactly refusing either. So being the bastard that he is, he’s going to bask in this paradise for as long as he can. 

*** 

“I can feed myself Felicity.” 

He feels compelled to admit to this because anything less would be taking advantage of her. 

“I am still worried about that arm so let me feed you and we’ll give it a few more days.”

Felicity slips another forkful of lasagna into his mouth, her eyes examining his wound as her brain ticks away, no doubt calculating his recovery time. 

“Besides, you’ve finished. You look much peppier after food. See I told you, you need to eat. 

She bends down to gather the rest of the plates and leave the room.

“You’ll come back?” he’s not sounding helpless like before, in fact he’s on his way to getting his growly back, yet there was something akin to a plea in his voice. 

“Yes I will come back as soon as I pack these dishes away.” 

*** 

“Felicity Smoak you are remarkable.” 

“Thanks for remarking on it.”

He’s lying in bed and she’s set up a plush sofa right next to him. Her hand is holding his wrist under the guise of monitoring his pulse but they both know why she’s holding him. Because he doesn’t want her to let him go. Because he needs comfort from her and for some reason she’s kind enough to go along with it. 

Over the course of the last few months he’d come to learn the depths of Felicity’s compassion, yet in this moment with her smiling softly at him, a few wispy stray curls framing her face, Oliver can’t help but marvel and wonder what power in the universe had forgiven him for all his sins to let him be in this woman’s orbit. The agony of it is that none of this could be his. He was allowed a taste but it wasn’t his. 

They both fall asleep not long after and Oliver wakes up to find a sleeping Felicity pressed against his chest. 

Slowly with his good arm he shifts the rest of her off the sofa onto the bed and throws some covers over both of them. 

***

**Autumn**

They continue their dance for the following months after that. Felicity’s become his right hand girl now, there’s no one he trusts as much as her. She knows everything there is to know about his mission and provides him with invaluable support to do what it takes to defeat Merlyn, both on a practical and emotional level. 

The practical Oliver can deal with. Felicity has skills that are beyond his reach and he needed her brain to try and save the Glades. It was the emotional that killed him. He could argue that it was a necessity to bring Felicity into the fold, to seek her help. After all thousands of lives were at stake.

But what he had no right to do was haunt her. Yes that was an accurate summation of it. He was haunting her. He spent what time he needed to manage his people, lead his team and then every waking (and sleeping) moment he had left; Oliver haunted her like a lost soul. 

Felicity didn’t seem to mind. She continued to dazzle him with her rambles, her understanding looks and soothing touches. They’d even settled into a pseudo domestic bliss of sorts. Oliver knows Felicity has thoughts about this but considering what they were about to face ahead, she wasn’t going to say anything that could potentially cause him emotional turmoil. Because that was the essence of Felicity Smoak. She was infinitely kind to him despite the fact that he didn’t deserve it. 

Oliver knew he really had to stop, that one day this had to stop. He was selfishly seeking solace in a false paradise and one day he was going to have to set Felicity free. One day. He didn’t want to think about it. He was weak and selfish when it came to her.

*** 

“You need to kill him. Promise me you’ll kill him.” 

There’s a forcefulness in her voice that Oliver has never heard before. Despite all the time they’d spent together, he’d never seen this side of her. He couldn’t help but wonder if his darkness was finally seeping into her. This was the same woman who had suggested, no demanded that he reconsider some of his kill first, ask questions later methods when they first met and now here she was standing in front of him, coolly asking him to commit murder.

“If you want to get rid of a weed, you need to extinguish the roots.”

The second lot of words startle him more than the first and it must be written all over his face because she advances towards him and suddenly that soft, coaxing Felicity smile is back on her face.

“You haven’t corrupted me. I know what you’re thinking. It’s written all over your face. Big bad Oliver Queen has corrupted the gentle loving girl. Merlyn was planning mass murder. If we hadn’t discovered those machines thousands would have died. Dozens of people have died already. You need to kill him. Kill him and check the body to make sure he’s well and truly dead. We don’t want any surprises later.” 

Oliver deduces that he must look like he’s about to faint at her words now because she’s holding onto both of his hands, and squeezing them reassuringly. He watches the brightly painted electric blue fingernails of the woman who has just asked him not only to kill but to make sure there’s a body. 

“I believe in you Oliver. We’ve disagreed over some of your methods in the past but I am a pragmatic girl when push comes to shove. Always have been, long before you came into my life. Merlyn needs to die.”

Felicity looks him right in the eye as she says this. Oliver holds her gaze and nods at her. There were apparently many things he’d yet to discover about this amazing woman and he realizes that whatever else he may blame himself for, this aspect of her personality was not his doing.

“Promise me you’ll come back?”

He can see the fear in Felicity’s eyes, the determination and grit that was there a moment ago had now given way to the doubt that he may not come home to her. She wanted him to come back to her. That she could maybe, possibly feel for him the same way he feels about her sends a burst of joy through Oliver’s heart despite what he must face next. 

He pulls her close and kisses her on the forehead. 

“I love you,” he whispers. 

*** 

“You did it, you came back to me.” Felicity throws herself at Oliver, both arms latching onto his neck as she hugs him tightly. He smiles and hugs her back, lifting her feet off the ground a little. 

“Did you check the body?”

Felicity is still clinging onto him, bouncing a little to express her joy. However she doesn’t forget to ask the all-important questions.

He casts her a stern look, raising a disapproving eyebrow at her. He would have liked their reunion to continue a little longer, tragic romantic soul that he was. 

“Do you need my help to dispose of it? I’d feel better if I saw it too in all honesty.”

Now she was just winding him up. 

“He’s well and truly dead I promise. I did everything you asked.”

“See you listened to me and came back with only a few wounds. You should always listen to me.” Felicity punches him on the shoulder slightly and Oliver may or may not have exaggerated his wince to command extra attention and fuss from her. 

“Oh I am so sorry. You defeat the bad archer and come back to be taken down by me. Here let me kiss the booboos.”

Before either of them have time to process what she’s doing, Felicity practically dives at him and starts peppering kisses all over his body, around anywhere she thinks may be hurt.

He’d been stabbed, shot at, beaten, electrocuted but nothing could compare to the torture he feels at having her kissing him like that with such innocent abandon. If he decided to act on his instincts this could be his permanent reality. Felicity could kiss him like this always. Felicity could be his.

“Felicity,” he says stroking her hair to distract her.

She freezes, gingerly backs off from his abdomen and looks up at him, her cheeks flushing bright pink.

“We should get you cleaned up.”

“That would be a good idea.”

“I ordered Thai. It should be here in 30 minutes.”

“You ordered Thai in time for my return?”

“Yes I did. All in a day’s work for you. Kill the Dark Archer, come back on time for Thai. Never let it be said that I don’t have faith in you.”

Oliver bursts out laughing despite the fact that the wound on his side hurts. 

*** 

“How about a simple dinner of tartines and sautéed asparagus tomorrow since you’re going to be home late?”

Oliver is doing up their meal pan for the week. He briefly wonders if his people would still respect him if they’d caught a whiff of this. He’d kept Felicity away from them thus far. The fact that he vanished at random intervals only added to his air of mystery and reputation as far as his people were concerned. He had no desire for anyone to find out about Felicity. This way she would always remain safe. His private, happy story that he had all to himself. 

“No need,” Felicity tells him quietly, looking like she is trying to chose her words carefully.

“I have a date tomorrow. Which brings me to the next point. Do you mind if you don’t come over tomorrow? I’m not sure how the date will go but in case it goes well…” 

He doesn’t hear the rest of her sentence. Blood rushes to his ears and he can feel his face growing hot and his chest tightening. Suddenly it’s like his world is crumbling around him. He’s never felt like this before. Not even when he was stuck on the midst of the direst situations. 

He tries to focus on Felicity but she’s only a blur. She’s mumbling something and looking extremely apologetic and…unhappy. 

Oliver wanted to die. He’d always thought he would die but right at that very moment he wanted to die. He was so stupid. Setting himself up in an impossible situation and falling in love with a woman who would never be his. A woman he would never deserve. 

“Oliver. Oliver are you ok?” 

He takes a few deep breaths and manages to pull himself together somewhat to focus on the conversation Felicity is trying to have with him. The conversation where she’s moving on with her life and he’s now homeless, his nirvana collapsing spectacularly around him.

“Is he a good guy? Who is he? Where did you meet him?”

Where could she have possibly met this guy? They spent so much time together surely he would know whoever it was Felicity had met. Oliver’s mind races as he runs through a list of potential nefarious scenarios where someone is trying to get close to Felicity to harm her. 

“On a dating app actually. He works for Kord Industries. It’s funny if you think about it. I am the ultimate tech girl so it makes sense that I would meet someone through a dating app. It might not amount to anything but it’s a start. I figure with us saving the Glades from the earthquakes and Merlyn gone it was time to focus on my personal life. Don’t you think so? Do you have any romantic plans Mr. Queen?” 

Her voice is flirty and laced with mirth as she asks him this question, unaware that what she’s doing is the equivalent of stabbing him mercilessly with a thousand arrows. 

“No,” he growls at her angrily. “I’ve been focusing on my friendship with you instead of fishing for dates online.” 

“Oh is that what you call this? Friendship?” 

Her eyes are flashing dangerously and one look at them tells Oliver that things are about to go from bad to worse. 

“Yes. You’re my friend and secret partner. I…I don’t know what I’d do without you.” 

“So if we had it your way we’d do this forever? How long are you planning to do this Oliver? Until we’re 80? Until you die because you think you’ll die young?” 

She’s crossing her arms and glaring at him fiercely. He’s been on the receiving end of her rage before but this time it feels like it’s the beginning of the end. 

“I…I don’t deserve you. I should never have kept coming back to see you.” 

“But you did.” 

“I know and I’m a bastard for it. I never should have let things progress this far.”

“You think it’s better if we were never friends? If we never worked together?” 

The hurt in Felicity’s voice is unmistakable and he lurches forward at once to pull her into his arms and hold her. 

“I will never, ever regret the time I had with you. They are the happiest moments in my life. Every single one of them. Even when I was poisoned. I don’t deserve you. I have never deserved you and I never will.” 

“So this is it? This is good-bye? You’re telling me you will walk out and never come back. Because that’s what you have to do if you feel like you don’t deserve me.” 

Felicity’s voice is all choked up and she’s trying desperately to push him away but he muscles her into submission, holding her and peppering kisses on her hair despite her angry protests. 

“I could never do that. I don’t know what to do. I’m weak when it comes to you. I love you and I want you but I don’t deserve you. Because of the life that I lead I will only bring you danger and heartache.”

She’s stopped fighting him and he’s clinging onto her for dear life now. He can’t let go; he can’t make it through life without the feeling of being near her again, that much he knows. 

“You’re being overly dramatic. Either fish or cut bait Oliver. And since you’re saying that you can’t give up on the salmon you need to do something about it.”

“Did you just compare yourself to a salmon?” Oliver chuckles out loud despite the circumstances.

“I’m always more of a math and science girl. Creative writing is not my forte,” Felicity waves him off. 

And this was why he loved her. This was why they were so good together. Because despite the fact that he worshipped her, they could and did have conversations like this that made him laugh.

“I don’t deserve you,” he murmurs into her hair. 

“Yes yes, we’ve heard that a hundred times already. The question is are you going to have me anyway?” 

Felicity looks up, gives him saucy, challenging lopsided wink and just like that Oliver knows he’s not calling the shots in this relationship. Felicity Smoak was going to damn well decide what was right for her and no amount of tragic lamenting and pontificating on his part was going to stop her from living her life the way she wanted. 

This revelation releases him from his self-imposed prison as he gathers her into his arms and kisses her with abandon.

“I love you,” he whispers in between fervent kisses.

“I love you too, even if you are a dumb pine tree,” she smiles into their kisses, jumping up and wrapping her legs around his waist.

**Winter**

Intelligent, brave, ever so loving and…addictive. If Oliver was in love with Felicity before he was now also addicted to her. 

How could he have ever entertained the thought of life without this woman in it? Every look, every touch, every time they made love, he was completely besotted by her. The very idea of it should scare him. He was obsessed with Felicity before they consummated their love but this was on another level altogether.

Yet now that he’d given himself up to her and dived all in with abandon, nothing scared him anymore. In fact if anything, Oliver felt freer that he’d ever felt in his entire life. Free to bask in the gloriousness of Felicity’s love. Free to accept that he could love passionately and be loved back by her. For the first time in his life he was happy. Content. Such was her power over him. 

“Marry me?” he says one night, dropping on both knees after the three course dinner he’d prepared her. He had put so much effort into the proposal, written and rewritten his speech in his diary over and over again. However when it was time to ask the question, the words just flowed out. Short and simple. He needed to know her answer and didn’t want to sit through his own long-winded speech. 

“Yes,” Felicity beams at him. “Although you’re only supposed to get down on one knee.” She laughs as she attempts to pull him up to a stand. 

“I’m never above begging when it comes to you.” 

“Can I say anything to you besides yes?” Felicity counters, leaning it to give him a kiss.

He gets up and they move to the couch, Felicity holding out her hand to let him slip with large yellow diamond sunflower ring onto her finger. She waves the ring around, admiring it on her finger before she takes his hand, her little face suddenly looking serious. 

“I want you to know that I understand the nature of your life. Your commitments, the things you need to do. I’ve said yes to marrying you and that includes every part of you. So I just want you to know that going forward, you don’t have to feel the pressure to change your lifestyle because of me. I love you and I believe in you. We’re a team and always will be.” 

Oliver gazes at Felicity. Her words don’t come as a surprise to him. Her unwavering love and support is the one constant in their relationship since the day he walked into her office with that bullet-ridden laptop. But it always takes his breath away all the same.

**Many Springs later**

“Daddy Mia ate all my cherries,” little Lucas Queen wails, his face scrunching up, tears or possibly a meltdown threatening to follow next.

Oliver places the waffles back onto the cooling rack, praying that they won’t go cold and that he can sort out this drama within the next minute so he can deliver Felicity breakfast in bed without his precious waffles losing their crispiness.

“Mia you were supposed to share those cherries with your brother,” Oliver scolds as he marches up to the little toddler table he had built where his 6-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son were having their third snack of the day. And it was still only 9.30 am. 

“I did. I did share,” Mia insists defiantly. 

“You had 16 cherries and you only gave me 5. You were supposed to give me 8. I can count! Just because I’m 4 doesn’t mean I can’t count,” Lucas crosses his arms and glares at his sister defiantly.

“Mia is this true?” Oliver asks quietly giving his daughter a stern look. Sometimes he thinks it was easier to manage his minions back in the day than the kids. The minions knew their place as minions. His children were entirely too spirited for their own good.

“They were so yummy Daddy,” Mia admits, having the decency to look ashamed of herself finally. “Lucas can have my strawberries.”

“And her cheese. I want extra cheese.”

“Can we have cheese daddy,” Lucas asks looking quite jolly, the cherry drama obviously forgotten. 

“I suppose you can.” 

“Daddy I want to use this Candy _I OWE YOU_. You can give it to Lucas to make up for the cherries.” 

Mia hands him a neatly written slip of paper that says “One piece of candy” written in small, even writing that almost resembles Felicity’s. The signature however gives it away as his daughter has tried to forge his signature instead of her mom’s.

“Mia you wrote this note!” Oliver admonishes his daughter. “Go get the wheel of cheese out of the fridge and use the plastic knife to cut your brother a slice. You are to eat no more than half a wheel between the two of you.”

He crouches down to her level and looks at her sternly, trying his best not to laugh as he thinks of the remarkably well-forged note. She was resourceful he’ll admit.

“We will talk about you trying to trick Daddy later. After I bring Mommy her breakfast." 

“It was all in jest Daddy,” Mia grins at him impishly, sporting the exact same expression Felicity often had whenever she did something she wasn’t supposed to do (such as eating mint chip for dinner during her pregnancy).

***

“Sorry I’m a bit late. I know you asked for a 9.30am wake up call.” Oliver places the tray in front of his wife and kisses the top of her head.

“Those little devils I birthed giving you trouble out there?” Felicity laughs as she takes a sip of the coffee he brought her and a bit of waffle, generously butter and doused in maple syrup.

“I left them with a wheel of brie. Should keep them out of trouble for a while. I wanted to sit with you for a bit.” 

He scoots into bed next to her and winds his arms around her waist. Felicity gives him a syrupy kiss before taking another bite of her waffle with gusto. 

“You know they are going to demolish that wheel of brie.” 

Felicity places the breakfast tray on her bedside table and cuddles up to her husband. It was rare to get in a morning cuddle and she half expected someone to scream for them at any moment. 

“Whatever keeps them quiet.”

Oliver nudges Felicity and instinctively she rolls on top of him, their lips meeting. She tastes like buttery maple syrup. He knows this is not the time but he can’t help himself as he deepens their kiss.

“Daaaaaddddddy.”

Like clockwork someone yells from downstairs.

Felicity gets in one last desperate kiss before pulling away looking tormented. Oliver knows exactly how she feels.

“Remember when you ran the family mob and had minions but we could stay in bed all morning?” Felicity sighs longingly before continuing. “Quit the vigilante lifestyle they say, live on the straight and narrow, have kids they say.”

“You know what I’m like Felicity. Got to have some danger and risk in my life for the adrenaline rush.”

“Moooommmy.” Another yell can be heard. This time they suspect it’s Mia. 

“See danger! At any given moment someone is fighting or having a tantrum. They’re going to burst in next. And you were worried I would be bored with life in Bloomfield. Our kids are scarier and less predictable than Merlyn or the Russian mob ever was.” 

Oliver looks so content and amused as he says this, Felicity can’t help but swoon at what an amazing father and husband he is. The fact that he could joke about his past said volumes about how far he’d come. The man who thought he didn’t deserve her or deserve any of this. Oliver had finally found his peace and it was with a pair of mischievous rug rats they’d created together. 

“We called for you but you wouldn’t answer so prepare for landing,” Mia and Lucas shout cheerfully, over the top of each other as they stand at their parents’ bedroom door. 

Before Oliver and Felicity get a chance to react, the kids launch themselves into the air and two little bodies hurtle at them onto the bed with boundless energy and much enthusiasm. 

It was definitely a questionable parenting choice on their part to let both kids learn how to parkour.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all liked it! Let me know if you do!


End file.
